Behind Mu Shuqing stood a woman in a cloak. She looked worriedly at Cangshu Qihua, who was stepping into the realm of death, tightly gripping her lapels. A strand of red hair gently slipped out, identical to the color of Cangshu Qihua's hair.
She was the lowliest of medicine testers. Five hundred years ago, the medicine testers either fled or died, yet she stubbornly remained on the mountain for five hundred years.
Simply because Cangshu Qihua was her son.
Cangshu Qihua was agitated, coughing up blood, but he still looked as mad as ever. "Who told you to come out! Go back, all of you, go back!"
For the past five hundred years, Cangshu Qihua had hidden two women.
Perhaps Cangshu Taotian had long noticed, but simply because Cangshu Qihua could bring more value to the Zhenyue Mountain City, he didn't mind turning a blind eye.
But if Cangshu Qihua died, the fate of these two hidden women could easily be imagined.
Before today, Cangshu Qihua had already arranged an escape route. They were supposed to be sent down the mountain to a safe place, not appear here together like this!
Mu Shuqing said, "Not long ago, she came to find me. You are of her bloodline. Although it is difficult, under my guidance, it is not impossible for her to lift your restriction."
"Auntie!" Mu Ran floated over, looking curiously at Mu Shuqing, then at the woman on the other side. "Fanghua!"
However, neither of them could see Mu Ran, and she received no response.
Cangshu Bai's cold gaze swept over. "You want to save him."
Mu Shuqing was Mu Ran's only blood relative, and during the chaos in Zhenyue Mountain City back then, Mu Shuqing had also helped him and Mu Ran.
Fanghua stepped forward and knelt on the ground, humbly pleading, "I am willing to die in his place. Please... please spare his life!"
Cangshu Bai's eyelashes trembled slightly.
He had been killing for too long, witnessing too much betrayal and deception among cultivators, yet at this moment, he suddenly remembered a past he had long forgotten.
Back then, in the Cangshu branch family in Song City, his parents with their low cultivation bases had also begged the high and mighty in the same way, hoping they would spare their son.
Cangshu Qihua looked at the kneeling Fanghua, his chest heaving violently. His body, pinned to the cliff face by a long spear, suddenly struggled. The wound on his shoulder burst open, and blood gushed out wildly, dyeing the entire cliff rock red.
"Get up! You are not allowed to kneel to him!"
Mu Shuqing asked, "Cangshu Bai, have you still not given up on resurrecting Ran Ran?"
Cangshu Bai disliked the word resurrecting and said, "Ran Ran is just asleep. One day, she will wake up."
Mu Shuqing slowly closed her eyes. A wisp of warm green light gathered at her fingertips, and a drop of crystal heart's blood slowly seeped out. Her spiritual energy was suddenly drawn away. Her body swayed slightly, her face instantly becoming as pale as paper, and even her breathing grew a bit fainter.
She raised her eyes, looking firmly at Cangshu Bai.
"Ran Ran and I share the closest bloodline. Using my heart's blood might be able to nourish her body and bring her one step closer to waking up."
Cangshu Bai's eyes lit up slightly. He unceremoniously accepted this drop of heart's blood, then looked at Mu Shuqing again. "This drop of blood will cost you five hundred years of cultivation. Is it worth it?"
"I act according to my heart. There is no question of whether it is worth it or not."
Mu Shuqing looked at the figure on the cliff, who should have been wildly arrogant, but now looked lost, as if he would drift away at any moment.
"It is true that he imprisoned me for five hundred years, but it is also true that he protected me for five hundred years. I want to trade this for his life, so that from now on, we owe each other nothing."
Mu Ran was completely dumbfounded.
When Biyun Mountain was destroyed, she thought Mu Shuqing had descended the mountain five hundred years ago and found a place to live in seclusion. She never expected that she had been imprisoned by Cangshu Qihua for five hundred years.
But looking at Mu Shuqing's condition, she didn't look like she had been abused, nor had she been reduced to someone else's cultivation vessel.
And precisely because of this, Mu Shuqing decided to return the favor to Cangshu Qihua.
Mu Ran pursed her lips, floated back, and held Cangshu Bai's hand. Tugging at his hand like she used to, as if acting coquettishly with him, she softly said, "Jinzhi, Auntie helped me a lot in the past. If it weren't for the talisman Auntie gave me back then, I might not have been able to safely leave Biyun Mountain, and I wouldn't have met you. Besides, when we were in the underground city, Fanghua took care of me too!"
Cangshu Bai raised his hand and pulled out the long spear. Cangshu Qihua's figure instantly plummeted to the ground, smashing a crater into the earth. Fanghua hurried over to support him.
But right at this moment, a fierce sword aura swept over.
Cangshu Qihua quickly reacted and pushed Fanghua away. His chest was pierced by the sword aura, and blood splattered once again.
Fanghua screamed, "Qihua!"
When the second sword aura struck, a figure in black clothes with white hair plummeted from the clouds like a nighthawk diving through the air, so fast that only an afterimage remained.
He waved his hand, and a piercingly cold surge of energy exploded violently, forcefully shattering the fatal sword aura to pieces.
Cangshu Bai stood in front of Fanghua and the heavily injured Cangshu Qihua. His back looked solitary and absolute, his imposing manner awe-inspiring.
"Cangshu Taotian, you have finally come out."
Supported by Fanghua, Cangshu Qihua struggled to raise his eyes, looking at the figure slowly appearing.
Fanghua glared hatefully at the figure. "Cangshu Taotian, he is your son! How could you strike to kill him!"
"In Zhenyue Mountain City, there is no need for trash who survive on the pity of their enemies."
Cangshu Taotian's hair was silvery white, but his face remained handsome. However, there was not a trace of warmth in his eyes, only an ice-cold indifference and a condescending disdain.
Cangshu Qihua's figure swayed slightly, his long eyelashes trembling in the bloody light.
Over the years, relying on the glory he won through constant slaughter, he thought he had gained a bit of care and attention in his father's eyes. It turned out to be nothing but a joke.
Mu Shuqing held his hand. A warm power flowed continuously into his body, helping to stop the bleeding from his wounds.
She said, "Calm your heart."
Cangshu Qihua lowered his head and softly replied, "Mm."
Mu Ran lay on Cangshu Bai's back, pointing at Cangshu Taotian and cursing, "He can even kill his own son! He really lives up to his name. His sins truly are monstrous!"
Cangshu Taotian had four sons. To him, raising children was never about the joy of family, but an experiment.
Every woman was merely a vessel on his experiment table, and the birth of every child was a results test. He only needed the strongest child.
A child in whom he could see no value was naturally no different from trash.
Cangshu Taotian said, "Linfeng, today, you and I, father and son, will join forces to eliminate this demon who betrayed the family. What do you say?"
A power slowly seeped out from the depths of the cliff. Unlike Cangshu Bai's fierce brutality, nor Cangshu Taotian's cold coercion, it carried a mountain-like heaviness that steadily enveloped the entire battlefield.
Cangshu Linfeng stood as tall and straight as a pine, with a handsome face. There was not a hint of murderous intent in his features, yet he naturally exuded an unquestionable aura of composure.
He held only a simple, ancient longsword in his hand, yet a sword aura that could not be underestimated quietly overflowed.
The favored son of heaven from the rumors, the once-in-a-millennium genius of the Cangshu family, finally stepped in front of everyone.
Mu Ran was a bit nervous. "Jinzhi, this person looks very formidable."
Cangshu Bai, however, said, "It wouldn't matter even if you all came at me together."
Anxious, Mu Ran tugged at his ear and said, "Jinzhi, you mustn't underestimate the enemy!"
Cangshu Linfeng was in no rush to draw his sword; instead, he first looked over at Mu Shuqing.
Mu Shuqing's clothes were stained with Cangshu Qihua's blood, looking like red plum blossoms blooming in the spring. Sensing his gaze, she looked over.
Cangshu Linfeng said, "After this fight is over, you will follow me from now on."
Cangshu Qihua tightly grasped Mu Shuqing's hand. "Wishful thinking!"
Mu Shuqing couldn't even be bothered to spare a glance at either of them and continued treating Cangshu Qihua's wounds.
Mu Ran looked at Cangshu Qihua, then at Cangshu Linfeng, sporting the expression of an eager gossip.
Although Cangshu Taotian was displeased, he didn't say much at this moment. He took the lead in drawing his sword. "Linfeng, join me in killing him!"
Before his voice even faded, he charged forward to strike. His sword momentum was like a world-destroying flood, so oppressive that it changed the color of the sky and earth, causing the winds and clouds to roll backward.
Cangshu Linfeng moved in response, unsheathing the longsword in his hand. His steady sword aura instantly merged with Cangshu Taotian's ruthlessness. One fierce, one steady, the two forces twisted together into a terrifying vortex that sought to swallow Cangshu Bai whole.
Cangshu Bai stood holding his spear, his white hair dancing wildly and his black clothes fluttering in the wind. As his black spear swept out, the spear shadows surged like a black dragon, forcefully clashing with the father and son.
At the same time, the flood dragon that Han Yu had transformed into soared into the sky, exhaling freezing dragon breath. Icy mist swept across the world, causing the temperature to plummet. The waterfall instantly froze into ice, and even the splattering beads of blood congealed in midair.
Obstructed by the freezing air, Cangshu Taotian and Cangshu Linfeng's assault abruptly stagnated.
The cold glint in Cangshu Bai's eyes flared. Seizing this fleeting opportunity, he thrust his black spear forward with the force of a thunderbolt. The spear tip intertwined with the dragon breath, transforming into an apocalyptic torrent of interwoven ice and darkness that violently crashed into the two men.
The heavens and earth trembled. The ringing of the spear and the roar of the dragon blended together, and the radiant light was so blinding that no one could look directly at it.
The naked eye could no longer discern the figures on the battlefield; one could only hear the earth-shattering roar of their collisions. The entire world seemed to shudder beneath the hands of the three men.
The onlookers strained their eyes until they nearly tore, but they could only see three blurry shadows engaged in a frenzied slaughter amidst the intense light, unable to tell who was who.
Mu Ran truly couldn't stop worrying about Cangshu Bai. She desperately grabbed the corner of his clothes, following closely by his side.
When the sword in Cangshu Taotian's hand clashed with the long spear, he said coldly, "Cangshu Bai, five hundred years ago, if that woman hadn't interfered, you would have died long ago. Now, there is no one left to save you. You must die today!"
Cangshu Bai neither feared nor retreated. "You are welcome to try."
Cangshu Linfeng followed closely, approaching with his sword. His sword momentum was as steady as a mountain, directly locking onto the opening on Cangshu Bai's flank, forming a fatal pincer attack from the front and back with Cangshu Taotian.
Father and son, two lethal strikes pressed down simultaneously.
The sky suddenly darkened, the winds and clouds rolled back, and the killing intent almost threatened to crush the entire Zhenyue Mountain City.
Now with Cangshu Linfeng's assistance, Cangshu Taotian was fully confident in his ability to kill Cangshu Bai. He held nothing back, desiring only to take Cangshu Bai's head.
However, without any warning, the look in Cangshu Linfeng's eyes changed. The longsword in his hand pointed straight at Cangshu Taotian's back and pierced right through his chest.
It was fast to the extreme, and eerily quiet.
One moment, father and son were united; the next, it was a scene of patricide.
Mu Ran, who had still been worrying that Cangshu Bai would suffer a loss, now stared blankly. What was going on?
Cangshu Bai retracted his killing intent, and the long spear in his hand vanished.
The flood dragon reverted to Han Yu, hovering nearby.
Inside the storm circle that no one could see into, it took Cangshu Taotian a moment to react. He looked in disbelief at the sharp blade piercing through his chest, then slowly turned his head. "You are my proudest child, why?"
Cangshu Linfeng said coldly, "Father, you have suppressed me for too long. I, Cangshu Linfeng, should have been number one long ago, instead of always remaining in your shadow. It is time for Zhenyue Mountain City to change."
Without hesitation, he yanked the sword in his hand upward through Cangshu Taotian's chest. Cangshu Taotian's body was instantly torn in two, collapsing to the ground, his eyes wide open, completely lifeless.
Cangshu Bai watched this scene calmly. "The item I wanted."
Cangshu Linfeng threw something over. "This is the Qingtian Sect token to enter the Qingtian Bright Realm. Cangshu Bai, a pleasure cooperating with you."
Mu Ran looked at Cangshu Linfeng, and then at Cangshu Bai, her mind even more confused.
